Three Kingdoms

Morning dawns.

The winter sun is like consumer protection law.

Corpses of Qiang people were thrown off the city wall like dead dogs. The blood quickly condensed into lumps in the cold wind, like a layer of purple-black paint covering the ground, smelly and sticky.

The exhausted soldiers from Ji County sat on the wall, slumped together, ignoring the noise on the side, and ignoring the corpses and blood around them, they just opened their mouths and leaned against each other, fighting. Purr.

The archers on the city put their arrows in front of them and waited for the Qiang people to come and snatch the ladders and other equipment under the city. Even if they were facing the rain of Qiang arrows on the earth platform opposite, they still had to release arrows to kill the approaching Qiang people. Shoot them all.

However, this morning, the Qiang people were like hyenas whose backs had been severed, wandering listlessly outside, with no desire to compete for the siege equipment under the city.

Under the sunshine, the exhausted Qiang people swayed their bodies one by one, as if they had lost their souls. They were really tired. The kind of exhaustion that penetrated into the bone marrow made their current state like The Walking Dead is no different. People are often like this. After passion, it is time for wise men. After the Qiang people's heroic spirit reaches the sky, what is left is the desolation all over the ground.

If such a Hebei county could be pushed, beaten, and captured with flesh and blood, these Qiang people would be eager to rush directly to the city, cut and stab with swords and guns, and even hit it with their heads and teeth. Go bite and capture this damn city.

But after spending countless amounts of flesh and blood, this city is still there, silent, like a satiated gluttonous monster, and its breath is full of the smell of blood.

The Qiang people yelled and cursed, but after venting their anger, when exhaustion came up like a tide, they found that they still couldn't do anything, cross over and conquer a city? Do you want your own escape route? And what if the next city cannot be defeated?

Going deep alone has always been a life-or-death strategy, and the Qiang people did not dare to gamble.

All the sheep they carried have been killed, and the number of horses is gradually decreasing.

If he continues to kill like this, he may not even be able to keep his own mount. What's even more frightening is that winter has come, the grass around has withered, and except for some pines and cypresses, even the leaves of the trees have fallen off. Without forage, in this increasingly cold winter, in the desolate snowfield, the war horses will starve to death. Without the horses, they have lost all their property, just like refugees who have lost their farmland.

The Qiang people had already begun to waver. They had lost their previous vigor. In order to save food and grass, the Qiang people dug three feet into the surrounding area, tore off all the leaves, scraped off the bark, and took with them the bones of sheep and horses that had been discarded casually in the past. They were reluctant to throw away the bones, so they kept them in the pot and boiled them over and over again. Even the dirty and tattered leather robes of those who died in war were peeled off, cut into small pieces, and boiled in the pot. cook……

It can deceive a hungry stomach to some extent.

Under such circumstances, even if Ma Chao did not propose to withdraw, Quinoa has been considering this issue. Quinoa Xiangli was riding on the horse, looking at Ji County from a distance. He pursed his lips, the corners of his mouth as sharp as a knife, and the sunlight burst out from the gaps in the clouds and fell into his eyes full of resentment.

Ma Chao is dead.

Most of Ma Chao's tribe were afraid of being implicated, so they fled overnight.

Quinoa sent a small group of people to Li to pursue him, but left most of them behind, preparing to implement Ma Chao's plan before his death. He has placed too many bets here in Hebei County. These bets that have been placed are like opportunity costs, making him worry about gains and losses and find it difficult to let go.

For the dead Ma Chao, Quinoa Goli didn't even think of collecting his body, because Quinoa Goli believed that the main responsibility for the failure of the victory this time was Ma Chao, and leaving his whole body was already a mercy of Quinoa Goli. .

Quinoa slowly took out the last piece of dry dough and put it in his mouth. He slowly moistened it with his saliva and grinded it with his teeth, letting the dough melt in his mouth and exuding the fragrance of wheat...

If it were in the past, Quinoa would not even look at the dough that had been left out for who knows how long and was completely dry and hard as a stone. But now, this dough that was hard to swallow before is now How precious, the aroma of wheat blooming in his mouth soothed his heart, spleen and stomach.

The guard beside Quinoa Xiali stared directly at Quinoa Xiali's slowly moving mouth and swallowed his saliva.

When horse meat is cooked, the blood foam will emit an indescribable sour smell. Strictly speaking, here among the Qiang people, who have no spices and even a shortage of salt, it is very unpalatable, but compared to those The smelly leather robes, shriveled tree bark and extremely sour grass roots and leaves are much more upscale.

The best food right now is serious food, such as quinoa noodles that taste good in your mouth. Before, not only Quinoa Goli, but even the guards around him, such as pancakes, could eat as much food as they wanted, but now it has become a delicacy that only Quinoa Goli is entitled to enjoy.

Quinoa swallowed the last bit of dough left in his mouth, then turned the horse's head, "Let's go!"

He left behind hundreds of corpses, consumed all the cattle and sheep he carried, and even ate the war horses that he regarded as treasures. He even ate the leather robes that were originally stored for the winter, but nothing was gained. When winter comes, I retreat empty-handed...

The cold winter is approaching day by day. Quinoa Xiangli knows that there will be a heavy snow soon. Once the heavy snow falls, Longyou to Xiliang will become a cold hell, and the violent snowstorm will swallow up any animals and plants that have no reserves. , becomes solid ice and will gradually rot until the following spring.

If there is still not enough food and grass when the heavy snow comes, then for the Qiang people, both livestock and people will suffer the same fate, and they will all die.

Under the cruel winter, Quinoa can even imagine what kind of scene will happen.

On the grasslands and deserts, hungry wolves that cannot find prey will begin to devour themselves, eating those weak wolves to survive the harsh winter.

If it really comes to that point, the feat that the Han Dynasty has not been able to accomplish for thirty-four years will be accomplished in the hands of Quinoa Quli, because Quinoa Quli knows that in order to protect his people, he will go to With the weak Qiang people around them, they took the lead in raising the butcher knife, and the first people to be killed must be Ma Chao's tribe.

The exhausted Qiang people did not know whether to be relieved or to pack their bags with grief and anger, and prepared to leave. In fact, they did not have much luggage to pack, so they mounted their horses one by one, lowered their heads, and staggered back to the west...

…………………………

"The Qiang people have retreated! The Qiang people have retreated!" The soldiers at the head of Ji County City who saw the Qiang people retreating cheered and jumped with joy, their expressions of excitement palpable.

Yang Fu looked up to the sky and sighed, exhaled a long breath, and said: "The sky has eyes, the Qiang people finally retreated... retreated... the soldiers and civilians of Hebei County were finally saved..." As he spoke, Yang Fu was also a little excited, choked with sobs, and with a bit of ambiguity, he said to Jiang Jiong: "Thanks to Brother Jiang for the bloody battle, otherwise... otherwise..."

Everyone in the city couldn't help but cast grateful eyes at Jiang Ji when they heard this.

The Qiang people attacked at night. If Jiang Jiong had not gathered his soldiers first and blocked the Qiang people's progress, so that the city gate tower was not lost and the Qiang people's follow-up plan could not be implemented, otherwise the city gate would have been breached. Everything in the city has probably become a hell of flesh and blood.

Moreover, before the Qiang people arrived, it was Jiang Ji who strongly advocated strengthening the walls and clearing the wilderness. It was precisely because of Jiang Ji's persistence that the Qiang people were unable to obtain food supplies in the wild. Otherwise, if the Qiang people had plundered enough food in the wild, they would not be able to survive. Know how long the siege will last!

Jiang Ji was also very excited, but he retained some sense and said: "Send someone down to check and see the surrounding situation..."

Yang Fu nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, yes, come here, dig out the earth and rocks of the city gate!"

"Wait!" Jiang Ji reached out his hand to stop Yang Fu and said, "Don't dig yet, use the hanging basket to hang it down and have a look!"

Yang Fu was stunned for a moment, but he quickly agreed. He hung up a few soldiers and asked them to check around.

The soldiers quickly ran back excitedly, jumping up and down, grinning till their teeth, "All gone! All the Qiang people are gone! All gone!"

"Great!" Yang Fu gave an excited high-five and turned to Jiang Jiong and said, "It seems that the Qiang people are really defeated! Do you want to send some people to pursue them? At this time, the Qiang people are running away and have no intention of fighting. If they attack, Definitely victorious!"

"Pursuit?" Jiang Jiu thought thoughtfully.

Yang Fu nodded and said: "There are still 150 war horses in the city, which can be used to chase and kill. Although they cannot annihilate all the invading Qiang dogs, they can still teach the Qiang dogs some lessons!"

As he spoke, Yang Fu also became a little excited, waving his arms and said: "How can I have such a great victory since I came from Zhongping!" Defending the soil is his own job, and even if it is completed, it is not something to be proud of, but The military exploits gained from chasing him down are real meritorious deeds!

Jiang Jiu hesitated, frowned, and said, "Brother Yang, do you think the Qiang people have exhausted their strength?"

The smile on Yang Fu's face stiffened, then he turned to look at Jiang Jiong, rolled his eyes a few times, and said, "Brother Jiang means... maybe the Qiang people have an ambush?"

Jiang Jiu pondered, pointed to the corpses of the Qiang people under the city, and said: "If the Qiang people suffered a lot of losses, they retreated like this... But Brother Yang, look at the city... The Qiang people only suffered 11% damage, so they retreated lightly... I thought there must be something fishy..."

"What does Brother Jiang mean?" Yang Fu asked.

Jiang Ji patted the battlements and said, "We'll find out in a few days."

"This..." Yang Fu's eyes widened, "I'm afraid it's inappropriate..."

"What's wrong?" Jiang Ji said.

Yang Fu frowned and said: "The cold winter is coming, but all the combustibles in the city have been used up! Now we have to dismantle the door panels and eaves to keep warm. Even if we don't send troops to chase, we still have to open the city gate to cut wood for warmth..."

Jiang Ji pointed at the surrounding area with his hand and said: "Brother Yang, please look, the Qiang people have cut down all the wood that can be cut around... If you want to cut down the wood, you can only go ten miles away... Once it is scattered, people can collect it." I’m not coming back! It’s better to wait a few more days. Anyway, I’ve survived the past few days, so it won’t be short of a few more days!”

"This..." Yang Fu hesitated.

Jiang Jiu looked at Yang Fu and said, "Be careful! Brother Yang! We have worked hard for so long, but at the end, the Qiang people got their way... Anyway, we can survive, but the Qiang people will never survive." live!"

Yang Fu looked at Jiang Jiong, pondered for a long time, and finally nodded...

Three days later.

The cold wind howled and the dark clouds gathered.

The coldest time has finally arrived, and snowflakes fall from the sky like powder, scattering on the city and on the corpses in the wild, as if ready to cover up the blood stains.

There were shadowy figures swaying in the falling snow. The defenders in Ji County frowned and looked at it from a distance, then their expressions changed and they sounded the alarm gong.

Yang Fu followed Jiang Ji and quickly climbed up to the city gate tower again. Looking at the dense crowd of Qiang people, he couldn't help but take a breath: "Brother Jiang really did what he expected! This Qiang person actually, actually..."

Jiang Ji also let out a long breath. The people in the city were feeling depressed these days. If Jiang Ji hadn't ordered the suppression, they might have done the opposite and left the city long ago, especially the wealthy nobles who originally lived in the city. The Qiang people left before After that, he could no longer tolerate the surrounding people staying in the city. They came to Jiang Jiong and Yang Fu almost every day to complain, almost pointing their noses and scolding them.

And now, the Qiang people have left and come back, which undoubtedly proves that Jiang Ji is right, and at the same time, it also gives a loud slap in the face to these wealthy noble families in the city...

However, it seems that these wealthy nobles don't care much about their appearance. Most of them will praise Jiang Jiong for how smart and wise he is, and then treat all his previous complaints and slanders as if they never happened.

The people in Ji County were naturally a little surprised, but not much afraid, because anyone with a little knowledge of military knowledge knew that even if the Qiang came again, they would not stay long.

On a cold winter snowy night, in such a wild place, the temperature is so low that even peeing can form icicles as solid as iron!

These Qiang people can stay here if they want to. At most, it will snow heavily and there will be more icicles and ice sculptures outside the city...

Compared with the Jixian city, which was peaceful but not chaotic, the Qiang people led by Qinmai Qianli had a different scene.

Quinoa looked intently at the Jixian County town, which was still closed and waiting for help. He couldn't help but feel sad in his heart. The tears that seeped out from the corners of his eyes only flowed for a short time before they were frozen on his face.

It's like quinoa's current state of mind, completely frozen and without any warmth.

Quinoa wanted to roar up to the sky, and also wanted to rush to the foot of Ji County City. He launched another siege regardless, and even led the charge himself until the moment he fell!

But in the end, Quinoa Xiangli didn't even have the energy to yell. Yelling and cursing will only make these Han people happier and make themselves more pathetic.

"Go back..." Quinoa said hoarsely, suppressing a mouthful of sweet blood, "Let's... go home..."

The Qiang people looked at the county town of Jixian in despair, and looked at the quinoa going to profit in despair. They turned their heads in despair, and returned on the same road amid the falling snow...

The Qiang people wanted to go back to their own people before the heavy snow finally came down. But this time, it was different from any other time. The people who accompanied them back were not loaded with goods and people, but thick and thick. It feels like despair.